Heat insulating bolted tanks



R. l.. FowLER 2,738,094

HEAT INsULATxNG BOLTED TANKS March 13, 1956 Filed Feb. 27, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l 20 Z2 2] JNVENToR.

,/F/(z 5. I BY J L W? Mz@ United States Patent HEAT uvsULATmGBoLTEnTANKs y Ralph L. Fowler, Los Angeles, Calif., assigner to Superior y Tank '& Construction'Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporationoECalifornia i Application February 27,-1953,Serial No. 339,297

Y Y- 1 Claim. f (Cl'.2209) 4 This invention relates tofimprovements in -heat in sulating boltedytanks. l

A large number of bolted steel tanks arenowzln use which it is desirable .-to,cover -orptotectwith heat iny sulating material. ,These ,boltedtanks are` usually con- Istrueted of overlapped sections of thin steel, plate between which sectionska gasket isdisposed. Usually on the inside of the bolted tank .at each joint there is a vertically arranged channel withiuwhich the heads of f Y: the bolts are disposed. .Thea Shanks of.the bolts extendl through aligned apertures 1in; the, steel -plate Ysections and throughV the gasket, and nutsare applied to the projecting ends ofV theshanks of. thexboltstwhich are disposed onv the exterior ofthe tank.1 TheI bolts are consequentlyarranged ,in vertical rows atsuitably i spaced intervals around a tank; ,It has been: customary to. apply `sections of heatinsulating material `to the exever occasion-requires that ingress be alforded .into the tank it ismerely necessary to* detach adjacentbattens and the intervening section of heatyinsularting.material `to provide a means of-ingress. f

An object of the present-invention is to provide an improved and highly simplie,d and economical means .for attaching the battens of `heat zinsulating material to the tank by means of the' bolts.

With the foregoing 'and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claim, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

AFigure 1 is a partial View in side elevation of a bolted tank, illustrating the heat insulating material held in applied position thereon by one form of construction that may be advantageously utilized to hold the battens in place;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 2--2 upon Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken substantially upon the line 3-3 upon Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the type of nut utilized in that form of construction illustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3,'but illustrating an alternative form of construction that may be employed;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the construction illustrated in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section, illustrating still another form of construction that may be employed;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of the construction shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 8, but

2,738,094 'if 'PatentdfvMan 13, -1 956 ICE @illustrating stillr another-- alternativehform of' 'construc- 'teriaL Vvention sections of heat insulating material indicated tion; A Fig. .l is a horizontal section illustrating still an- -other.form..of construction that-may be advantageously employed;

. Fig. 11 isA aperspective view illustrating a 'portion of the construction shown in Fig. l0; and

Fig. 12 isa view showingstill another form of the construction.

10-. fsimllar reference J characters deslgnate similar parts Referring to= the accompanying drawings wherein throughout, the'conventionall bolted rtankv has its iside `walls made up of sections ofuthinfsteelplate. Two of such adjoining sections arelillustrated at and 11 which have overlapping-side `edgesbetween which there is interposed agasket 12. Registering holes are formed in the sections liliand -11 and in theV gasket 12 for the reception of bolts 13. These 'bolts preferably have .square heads which are disposed within vertically extending :channels 14 that are arranged on the inside of the tank and which hold the' heads'of the bolts against turning when `nuts 15 are `tightened on the ends of the Vbolts which project on the exterior of the tank.

ever, in many instances itis highly desirable to cover the exterior of suchftanks Vwith a heat insulating ma- In so doing, Sin `accordance with the present inat 16 and l174 arejapplied tothe exteriors of the plates 1i) and 1I. fThesesections have vertical side edges that are disposed adjacent, butL areslightly spaced from, the

. vertical rows of bolts 13. Bettens 18 of heat insulating material are disposed -over the vertical *rows of bolts and have their sidei edges in` overlapping relationship to z the sections k16-and 17.

.. The present linvention concerns itself with va simple -and economical `means'for lattaching'the battens 18 in 4placefand. consequently holding the sections 16and 17 21. Certain of the nuts 15 on the bolted' tank are removed andreplaced by-thefnuts 19 and'when the battens 181are applied, 'holes' 22\are punched or are otherwise formed in the-battensl These holes enable .thezabendablesteelistraps 20 and- 21 to be extended zthroughzthetbattens andfafter having been thus extended,

as indicated by dotted lines on Fig. 3, the projecting portions of the straps are bent laterally. These portions consequently hold the battens in applied position and hold them pressed against the sections 16 and 17 so that the sections are also held in applied position. Whenever it is desired to remove a section of insulating material, such as for example the section 17, in order to provide ingress into the tank, the laterally bent portions of the bent straps 20 and 21 on the nuts 19 which hold two adjacent battens in place may be straightened thus permitting removal of the batten and consequently the intervening section 17. It will thus be appreciated that in order to apply heat insulating material to a conventional bolted tank it is merely necessary to replace certain of the nuts 15 withY nuts 19 and their attached straps 20 and 21. The straps 20 and 21 may be attached to the nuts in any preferred manner, such as for example by Welding indicated at 23.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, instead of attaching straps to the sides of a nut a bendable U-shaped steel strap is provided having parallel arms 24 and 2S that are connected together by an apertured portion 26. In this form of construction certain of the nuts 15 can be removed from their respective bolts 3 and the apertured portion 26 can be applied over the shanks of such bolts. The nuts 15 can then be reapplied and the batten 18 can be applied over the arms 24 and 25, as is illustrated in dotted lines on Fig. 5. The projecting portions of the arms 24 and 25 can then be bent laterally to hold the batten 18 in place.

In the construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the attaching means consists of an angular section 27 formed of bendable strap metal. One arm of this angular section is apertured as at 28 so that it may be slipped over certain of the bolts 13 and the nut 15 reapplied. The other or long arm is longitudinally split as indicated at 29. When the batten 18 is applied only a single aperture 30 need be formed therein to accommodate each long arm of each angular member. When the batten has been applied the two sections 31 and 32 on opposite sides of the split 29 can be bent laterally in opposite directions to hold the batten in place.

The form of construction illustrated in Fig. 9 differs from the form of construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8 by having the arm 33 welded or otherwise secured to the side of a replacing nut 34 such as by welds 35. This arm is longitudinally split as indicated at 36 to provide two bendable arms 37 and 38. In the use of this construction certain of the nuts 15 are replaced by the nut 34, and when the batten 18 is applied the two arms 37 and 38 are bent laterally in opposite directions.

In the form of construction illustrated in Figs. 10 and 1l, certain of the nuts 15 are replaced by nuts 39 which have studs 40 welded or otherwise secured to the side thereof. In using this form of construction, when the batten 18 is applied apertures 41 are punched or are otherwise formed therein to receive the studs 40. Apertured plates 42 having apertures 43 which receive the studs are applied against the outer sides of the battens 18 and nuts 44 which are applicable to the studs are tightened against the outer sides of the plates.

In the construction shown in Fig. 12 the attaching means is in the form of an eye-bolt, the head of which is bent laterally so that the eye is receivable over the bolt of the tank and is capable of being retained thereon by the nut. The threaded shank of the eye-bolt may have a nut, such as the nut 44, applied thereto and will function in the same manner as the construction shown in Fig. 10. In this form of construction substantially the only diiference between the construction and that shown in Fig. 10 is that the stud or shank, instead of being welded directly to the nut 39, is equipped with a laterally bent eye which can be retained on the bolt of the tank by the nut 39.

In the constructions shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 7, it s usually desirable to interpose between the insulation and the laterally bent portions of the retaining means suitable washers as illustrated.

In all of the above described constructions it will be appreciated that a relatively simple and economical construction is provided which enables the balance of insulating material to be attached to the tank by constructions which are held in place by the bolts of the tank. In some instances, certain nuts of the bolts of the tank must be removed and replaced. In other instances such nuts are merely removed to permit of the application of the attaching structure, after which the same nuts are again applied to their respective bolts. In all forms of construction, although the battens are firmly held in positions, it is possible to remove the battens whenever occasion requires the removal of one 0r more sections of heat insulating material to provide ingress to the tank.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claim.

I claim:

In a tank, plates forming the body of the tank and connected by lap joints, bolts extending through lapping portions of the plates at the joints, sheets of insulation overlying the exterior of said plates and having parallel edges extending along opposite sides of the joints but terminating short thereof, battens of insulation bridging the gaps between said edges, angular eye bolts, each eye-bolt having a single eye loosely positioned over a bolt and having a threaded shank extended outwardly along the side of the bolt and through the batten in spaced relation to but approximately parallel to the axis of the bolt, a nut on each bolt for tightening the eye of the eye-bolt against the joint and tightening the joint, and nuts on the threaded shanks for tightening the battens in place.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 438,522 Brennan Oct. 14, 1890 1,076,382 Maloney Oct. 21, 1913 1,508,462 Mayer Sept. 16, 1924 1,674,842 Sparks June 26, 1928 2,112,594 Double Mar. 29, 1938 2,263,943 Barnes Nov. 25, 1941 2,691,458 Dinwiddie Oct. 12, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 19,404 Great Britain of 1899 490,095 Germany Jan. 25, 1930 

